lembergwatcher

I find it somehow amusing that people who like to call out Xander's "toxic masculinity" are mostly OK with much more blatant displays of said masculinity on behalf of Spike. I do. Drooling for Anya instead of moving on after everything was over (they couldn't fix anything after Hell's Bells, period. Being just friends was the best he could hope for). Then there was that pesky sex scene in Touched and don't wanna get into it due to the unwillingness to start a long useless rant. There were dozens of good looking girls in the Summers' house and I can see no reasons why the writers didn't allow Xander to follow in Willow's footsteps and find himself in the arms of one of the potentials. JMO though. I always wanted the writers of the show to dig deeper on the issue. Taking a closer look at Xander's (and Willow's for that matter) home life would only benefit the series. It is. But many in the fandom still refuse to give Xander even a slightest pass. If it was, say, Buffy growing up in a broken home, having the pieces of white trash like Tony and Jessica as a parents, she'd be an object of a universal compassion. On the contrary, I believe it was quite foolish (on the part of Joss and the others) to make Xander who'd just turned 20 in 2001 ask for Anya's hand (final fight with the Hellgod bitch was just around the corner and it wasn't the best moment for such a serious step). The guy had just left his parents' basement and still couldn't buy beer legally in the state of California... The whole wedding affair proved to be just disaster in the making and to this day I resist the writers assumption that a 1000-years-old ex-demon was the only alternative for X and the sole woman in the whole state of California to spend the rest of his life with. I'd be enjoying X/A as a couple more if their romance continued from The Harsh Light of Day 'til, say, Where the Wild Things Are. But I guess it's just the matter of taste.

After amending legislation they can be considered "citizens with sanguinary issues".

That interrogation scene... Everytime I see the wacky kitty on Willow's shirt, I crack a smile.

Man, I felt sorry for Principal Flutie and Herbert the Mascot... But... all's well that ends well. And then just... aww What can be cuter than that? The good old times when nothing and no one stood between the three original Scoobs.

Since watching the show for the first time back in 1998 it wasn't Buffy the Vampire Slayer herself, but her two original Slayerettes who had won my heart. Dunno, whether it was because of my own tendency to identify myself with nerdy, not-so-popular school types, or just because the actors had a chemistry together, but over the course of the series Willow and her best friend Xander continued to get most sympathy from me. Though meant to be generally speaking the outsider of the Buffyverse, Xander, the guy with the goofy smile and an odd sense of humour, in fact was so much more than just a comic relief. From the moment he followed Buffy to the Master's lair in The Harvest until his desperate attempts to keep the Scooby flame burning in the final season, the character proved himself to be the epitome of a true friend and an unsung hero of the Buffyverse. Despite coming from a broken home, mediocre academic perfomance, no superpowers, lack of respect from classmates, teachers and sometimes even his own friends, being constantly ridiculed and underrated (why didn't you tell 'em 'bout Angelus in Killed by Death, Xand?), Xander didn't become angry or bitter. In spite of having millions of legitimate reasons to quit any time, he continued helping his friends, for he, not chosen and not destined himself, made a life choice to fight. He laughed in the face of danger and, regardless of having "no superpowers", survived for seven consecutive seasons. Just another proof that Xander Harris indeed wasn't that "ordinary" or "useless". He was loyal and modest - a characteristics that are hard to find in this day and age. He had his highs and lows (just like everyone else in the series), annoyed yours truly on many occassions (just like everyone else), and writers did their best to perform character assassination on White Knight (making him share the bed with a hellbitch for 2,5 seasons and then turning into Dawnie's nanny/bodyguard closer to the finale among the few things), 'coz, you know, everymen are scum and vampires rule, but... if it wasn't for "the Zeppo" and his virtues, Buffy and others would have ended up dead and gone long ago. One might say that Xander's only achievement was to hold a steady job and he brought "nothing" to the fight (though rocket launcher from Innocence alone proves otherwise), but it was thanks to his resolve the world as we know it didn't come to a sad end in June 1997. Xander never really had a chance to step into spotlight for many-many reasons (others were chosen to take the spot by JW) and many in the fandom continue to hate him with a passion, but, like it or not, this guy was instrumental (key guy, remember?) in winning every big battle and saving the day - no less than Buffy or Willow. And if it wasn't for Xander's unconditional love, what else could literally bring our beloved Willow back in Becoming, Part 2, or discourage her from making the worst mistake of her life in Grave?..

Correct me if I'm wrong, but... lo and behold, both SMG and John Ritter were physically ill while acting in this episode.

And of course some small dose of old W/X goodness for me:

I woke up the other day and I thought: what if at the end of an episode Kendra stayed a little longer in SunnyD and eventually she and Buffy realized they liked each other more than just a sisters-slayers (if you know what I mean)?

That Joyce Summers. She's so caring and supportive... Such a loving mother. Some big guy threatens your 16-years-old daughter with violence? That's OK, 'coz "he didn't do it in front of the others"! What a decent guy, isn't he? True, Buffy's a real piece of work, but, watching episodes like Ted, I'm starting to believe our Slayer simply had a bad genes. But no matter how unsympathetic Joyce could appear, she's model mother compared to Willow's and Xander's parents.

Scream queen of Sunnydale...

Someone had to tell the Scoobies that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to "Hostile Subterrestrials" like Spike...

Aww... good old times. Just love it.

Just another reminder that the Scoobs are pretty much able to deal with the challenges without Buffy in charge (therefore Spikey was dead wrong in Doomed). While the Slayer is temporary unavailable, Xander becomes the hero of the day. IMO sometimes the show needs a little less Buffy and her current boyfriend, and a little more of the gang. I cannot fail to mention how cute do Anya and Spike look together. In fact they belong together. Still wonder why on earth did the writers decide not to develop that story. Am I the only one who sees how adorable those characters are? What could be sweeter than that? True soulmates. Not impressed with Giles' musical skills though. Or maybe I just don't like "Behind Blue Eyes"...

And speaking of characters we can't stand... How could I forget the one and only Parker Abrams? After the whole one night stand affair my initial desire was to have him bound, gagged and dragged into hell dimension where he'd be working in some demonic brothel, entertaining ugly horny demons in rather specific ways. Not that I have much regard for Buffy and her love life, but the guy was a real rat bastard...

I agree. He had his reasons to act that way (one more reason to despise Tony and Jessica), so probably I was a bit too harsh on Xander. He's good guy anyway. But he could at least spare Willow a torture of having him practicing asking Buffy for a date on his best friend (Prophecy Girl) or try to talk and explain following "you'd rather be with someone you hate than be with me". Not on exact the same day ('cause, you know, Angelus and the Judge...), but... without much delay. At the very least before Willow assumed those were the Plastic Werewolve's words... Anyway putting Buffy's business ahead of their issues rarely did Xander and Willow any good. Though Xander's actions spoke louder than words, And I still upset he didn't find the time to tell Willow the truth 'bout what happened in Becoming Pt 2. The dopesmoking writers decided that "Kick his ass" was "more important" thing to reveal than Xander's admission of love for his lifelong friend... Sigh.

True, she isn't. I didn't mean to put it that way. As for UPHell, I think it was a combination of her own failures and the others failing her (personal responsibility comes first IMO). Going to Rack wasn't her best decision, but it's kinda sad that there was no one around except Amy... Buffy with the bleached sextoy, Xander with that f@#ing wedding (I hate that story arc with a passion even nowadays), Tara's "it's all your fault" attitude and Dawnie being the self-centered brat - they all weren't much help. Sigh.

Kudos to you for paying attention ) OK, you're right, she did try to raise a red flag, but I dare say it was a little too late in Surprise. And if I get it right judging from Jenny's own words in Innocence watching either Buffy or her brooding boyfriend was Miss Calendar's top priority even before she appeared on a scene in I, Robot...You, Jane. It was the main reason she came to Sunnydale, wasn't it? Maybe I miss something important, but I guess watching those two actually required watching, i. e. doing some detective work, survelliance. Sure, Jenny didn't have to do it all by herself (teaching classes and dating Giles were good distractions), but a year in Sunnydale was more than enough to create some kinda network of informants, who could watch the two, follow them around day (in B's case) and night - at the places both were most likely to be. Jenny was smart enough to put two and two together. Watching Buffy and Angel might help noticing things getting serious (him coming to her house and vise versa). Anyway the lovebirds weren't hiding: the Gorch brothers saw the smoochies back in the Bad Eggs. Why wasn't there someone else at the cemetery - watchin' everything on Jenny's behalf? If she spotted something earlier, she could take action by herself or report to her clan. Whatever, I don't blame Jenny here. Clan Calderash was an utter failure in that case.

I was absolutely in love with her for the duration of the first three seasons, still felt attracted to the redhead Wicca during the two subsequent seasons (this slight change had nothing to do with her coming-out, believe me). I loved many things about her: her eyes, her smile, her hair, they way she talked and even her sense of fashion was kinda cute. Since writers decided to perform character assassination on her in the S.06 I didn't know what to think, 'cause there were times I hardly recognized post-Bargaining Willow Rosenberg as the one I loved so much at the beginning (the less is said about Dark Willow, the better). She's learned her lesson well by the start of the show's final season, acted more responsible and really cared for her friends (the first time I saw that scene in Empty Places it was truly heartbreaking) and the potentials (contrary to Buffy's "Spike-Spike-Spike-it's all about Spike" obsession) - so my love and respect for her were firmly in place. Not as attractive sexually as Buffy, Cordy or Faith, Willow did have something none of those three had. Actually her early seasons-styled childish naivete gives her a higher score in my book in contrast to three other gals who liked to play sexual predators far too much. Her ability to act childish one moment and be all collected and reasonable the other was just plain adorable. And if you ask me, I really do think she could be a better leader for the Scoobies than Buffy ever was. If it was me to choose between Cordelia, Buffy and Willow, my choice would be obvious (how could you be so blind/indecisive, Xander Harris, you dumbass?!) By no means flawless person, Willow had issues with growing-up and emotional maturity, and many of her decisions weren't that good. In fact I wanted to... give her a slap or two on more than one occassion (i. e. that "I live in a basement" comment in Something Blue or threatening Giles in Flooded to name but a few). Among the things that annoy me about her is the habit to follow Buffy's lead and choosing her side on many occassions. To this day I find her enthusiasm over whole Angel affair weird at best ("Gee, Buffy, you're dating a 240-plus-something-year-old vampire, who ate his own family and massacred the entire village! What can be more romantic than that?"). Even though she almost ended up dead because of Captain Forehead himself, it didn't change a thing in her attitude (I still wonder why they didn't make an episode in S.03, with B/A and W/O going on a double date). Then there was, of course, Oz. The fact that he had a straight face all of the time, said few words or played the guitar hardly makes him a good boyfriend material. And just because he didn't eat his girlfriend or her friends/other lovers (though it was an attempt with Tara) isn't enough to consider him "cool". True, he happened to be the first one who noticed Willow as a woman or so they claim (although Xander's awkward attempt to kiss his best friend in When She Was Bad before Oz even entered the picture and started making his cheesy "Who is that girl" comments, proves that White Knight wasn't totally oblivious to her beauty). Then again Justin was the first one to notice Dawnie that way in S.06.E06, but we rarely give him credit for that. Veruca was just a matter of time (you should have seen it coming to bite you in the ass somewhere around Phases, Oz, but you were too "perfect" to bother) and you know, Will, that main riff from "Sway" sounds very similar to U2's "Pride (In the Name of Love)". Kennedy wasn't your smartest choice as well, Willow, and, see, she didn't put a gun to your head or tie you up to the bed, while other potentials had to sleep elsewhere... Willow's lifelong friendship with Xander was one of the most beautiful things in the whole Buffyverse (that scene between the two in Willow/Tara dorm room from The Body saves the whole episode - at least for me, although after first seeing it I thought it was quite powerful). To this day I can't forgive JW for not giving W/X a chance (they deserved it no matter what most people say!). Since I choose to ignore the so-called "comic assassination" of the series, there are moments I believe that in the post-Chosen Buffyverse those two crazy kids will eventually get it right and escape to some picturesque corner of America, have a cottage, small farm and 3-4 chidren. Zero chances, I know, but why can't I dream?.. Overall I like Willow the Computer Nerd and Willow the UberWicca, Willow the Child and Willow the Woman, shy Willow and confident Willow, straight Willow and gay Willow, ...and many-many other manifestations of her terrific personality (even Vamp!Willow had her charm)... And kudos to Alyson Hannigan for her amazing work. I didn't watch much of her other movies and therefore can't say whether she was as good there as she was in BtVS, but... Even if Willow was her very last role, her performance would be still considered brilliant.

I think a technopagan is someone who worships technical progress and all the things related to it in the very same regard as actual pagans worship the forces of nature. The follower of a new religion that's somehow reminiscent of an older, more archaic cults. I love Jenny Calendar. The fact that she spent so little time on the show is one of the few flaws considering Buffy's first two seasons. I wanted more of her background story and to this day I think her romance with Giles was way too short (in fact I wanted them to get married, have six kids and move to English countryside). True, she had secrets, that almost destroyed her friendship with the Scoobs, and her blissful ignorance of Buffy and Angel heading for a big bang was somehow strange. After all it was Jenny's duty to watch out those lovesick puppies and yours truly still can't understand why didn't she sound the alarm, when things started to get, uh, serious between the two? She hanged around with the gang for most of the season 2 and there's no indication the Scoobs kept the whole B/A stuff a secret deliberately, Willow might have mentioned it inadvertently since she was soooooo excited... Slightly OT, but considering that screenshot from Innocence: dunno 'bout the plot device or emotional effect, but assaulting the teacher in front of other students should have some repercussions for Buffy (both from school authorities and Giles himself since this was a clear violation of the rules not to harm civilians). Try to perform your job better next time, G-Man, and hold your freaking Slayer. And, yes, I love this particular scene.

Maybe I wasn't clear. I mean they escaped payback for far too many episodes in the season. If Buffy wasn't on the road to ruin, the Trio would meet its demise even before Sweet came to town. God, at least they spared us watchin' Jonathan, Warren and Andrew singing/dancing (though Adam Busch fronts some band as far as I know).

Willow's spiraling out of control magic addiction didn't start from scratch. Her use of magic increased considerably since meeting Tara and became reckless over the years. Tara was the one who encouraged Willow to do more spells at the beginning. Now I'm not saying she was responsible for the whole mess, but she certainly helped her lover delve deeper into all things magic-related. Snapping at Willow or sending her deathly glares whenever the issue was raised is hardly the best thing to do. Also, as an experienced witch who practiced the whole since she was little, Tara should have known that abstaining from practicing witchcraft completely (as she insisted in Willow's case) wasn't a permanent solution since magic happened to be the part of Willow herself. Correct me if I'm wrong, but one of the reasons Dark Willow came out to play was the fact that actual Willow succumbed to (her fmr. girlfriend's) pressure and stopped the spell-casting.

Here's the list of Buffy characters I can't stand: Glory (Probably top of my "Most annoying Big Bads" list); Adam (Second in my "Most annoying Big Bads" list); Anya (They thought she was "funny", worth to be part of the SG and the best choice for Xander? Well, screw 'em all); Caleb (Nowhere near as "bad" or "evil" as some people think); Cordelia (Since watching the show for the first time I tried my best to fall in line and come to love her. Didn't succeed. She was much better character on Angel though); Tony and Jessica Harris (Fortunately only one episode. Still wanna kill them both); Oz (Not even remotely as "cool" as most in the fandom view him. Seeing Willow as a woman before anyone else could hardly places him above Xander. Not eating his girlfriend isn't a reason to consider him a hero either. Claims that he was somehow more "useful" to the SG are just ridiculous); Dawn (Seasons 5 & 6, had her bad moments at the beginning of S.07, but then matured somehow); Buffy (Seasons 6 & 7, though there were earlier signs of upcoming badness); Spike (Overrated to the point of hilarity. I would tolerate him much more if he didn't steal so much screen time, outshining more decent characters. One more "bad-guys-are-cool" cheesy type); The Trio (Pathetic caricatures that made Andrew Borba look like a supervillain. The fact that they evaded retribution for the whole season is plain offensive); Harmony (If the Trio needed a groupie, she could be the most obvious choice); Maggie Walsh (The reasons are obvious I guess). ---------- Maybe I'll expand it later.

Maybe an UO: true, Willow treated Tara horribly sometimes but she wasn't the only guilty party. Tara was no saint too. Erasing lover's memories was a despicable act, abandoning your lover when she went throuhg the worst time of her life was hardly a decent thing to do either.

Yes she was. She could be very annoying sometimes - no doubt about it. But that didn't make her any different from the rest of the Scoobies, all of which let their "inner asshole" emerge time after time. If the fans easily turned a blind eye on most of Buffy's antics on account that she was, well, a teenager - then we can give Kennedy a pass for the same reason. She was a teenage girl, far from home, family and friends, in a new environment, constantly facing danger, scared. Her ostensible pensiveness might very well be a disguise for fear and helplesness considering her new experience. And then nobody expected her to face a vampire since technically speaking she was just a Potential, not a Slayer. She was immature, arrogant and insensitive on more than one occassion, but that did not make her a monster after all. In fact Buffy's trash-talking dead Chloe alone looks more rude and disgusting to me than all of Kennedy's childish outbursts combined.

So, it was Sarah's involvement? Didn't know Joss valued her opinion that much... OTOH she failed to persuade him to keep her "mother" alive. Hmm...